Metal strip having rounded edges and method of and apparatus for producing the same



Sept. 25, 1962 D. .1. HEDGECOCK ETAL 3,055,241

METAL STRIP HAVING ROUNDED EDGES AND METHOD OF AND "APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING THE SAME Filed July 1, 1957 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS DURW000 I HEDGECOCK T//0MA$ E. WIS JOHN .N/ELSEN ATTORNEYS Sept. 25, 1962 D. J. HEDGECOCK ETAL 3,

METAL STRIP HAVING ROUNDED EDGES AND METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING THE SAME Filed July 1, 1957 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 *IZS Z 5 a I 126 INVENTORS ATTORNEYS Se t. 25, 1962 D. J. HEDGECOCK ETAL 3,055,241

METAL STRIP HAVING ROUNDED EDGES AND mmaon OF AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING 'rm: SAME Filed July 1, 1957 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 IINVENTORS DURWOOD J. HEDGECOCK THOMAS E. ZEW/S JOHN E. NIELSEN BY gem $1 ATTORNEYS Sept. 25, 1962 D. J. HEDGECOCK ETAL 3,055,241

METAL STRIP HAVING ROUNDED EDGES .AND METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING THE SAME I I48 I4 I47 I43 INVENTORS DURWOOD I HEDGECOCK THOMAS E. EW/5 JOHN E. IELSE/V ATTORNEYS 3,055,241 METAL SIRE? HAVHNG RGUNDED EDGES AND METHQI) 6F AND APPARATUS FER PRODUC- ING THE Sean/1E Dnrwood E. Hedgeeeck, Richmond, Va Thomas E. Lewis, Louisville, Ky, and Eohn E. Nielsen, Downers Grove, ilk, assignors to Reynolds Metals Company, Richmond, Va, a corporation of Delaware Filed Euiy 1, 1957, Ser. No. 669,349 6 (llairns. (Ci. 8ti-31.l)

This invention relates to an improved method and apparatus for reshaping the edge of an elongated moving strip of material. More particularly, it relates to a metal strip, such as aluminum, and to a method of and apparatus for producing rounded edges thereon.

While our invention, in its broader aspects, is adapted for bevelling the edge or edges of a strip of any size or type of form retaining, malleable material, or for producing a sharp or rounded edge thereon, we have illustrated the same in its use in manufacturing an anodized strip conductor produced from a thin aluminum strip, in view of the special demands found in that type article.

As is known, the elongated strip which is to serve as the conductor is normally formed by slitting of an elongated sheet of commercial width along parallel lines which define the edges of the conductor. Experience has shown that, regardless of the sharpness of the slitting apparatus, these lateral edges, when considered in the microscopic dimensions applicable to anodic coating procedures, are found to have irregular or burred surfaces as, for exam ple, sharp points, corners, recesses, and other forms of non-symmetry. When subjected to anodizing treatment without intermediate reshaping of these slitted edges, such a strip is unable to take a uniform deposition of anodic coating over its surfaces and edges.

Various methods for modifying the edge portions of such strips prior to the anodizing treatment have been suggested as, for example, the brushing of the irregular edges, the controlled melting of those edges to provide convex smooth edges, or the longitudinal folding of the slitted strip so as to provide a thickened conductor having rounded edges. The present invention makes available still another solution to this problem and in which the slitted edges are rounded by a rolling action. We have now found that, by following the practices hereinafter set forth, a strip conductor having uniformly anodically insulated edges may be rapidly produced and in a relatively inexpensive manner.

One object of our invention is to provide an improved method for reshaping the edge of a moving strip of material.

Another object is to provide an improved apparatus for reshaping the edge of a moving strip of material.

Another object is to provide an improved strip of material having a relatively smooth edge.

A further object is to provide an improved anodically insulated strip conductor.

A further object is to provide an improved reshaping roll for use with an elongated strip of material.

Still a further object is to provide an improved resilient mounting for a torque producing roll adapted to reshape the edge of a strip of material.

Other objects and advantages will become more appar- 3,655,241 Patented Sept. 25,- 1962 lee out when the following description is considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the use of our invention in the forming of an anodically insulated strip conductor;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of two stands of reshaping rolls preferably employed in carrying out the method of our invention;

FIG. 3 is an elevation view of the leading stand of' reshaping rolls taken on line 33 of FIG. 2 and showing the rolls prior to adjustment into reshaping relation to each other;

FIG. 4 is a view taken on line 4 4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an elevation of portions of the leading stand of reshaping rolls and its mounting, taken from the outlet side thereof and prior to adjustment into reshaping relation with respect to the strip of material, which is show in greatly enlarged thickness;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5 and showing the following stand of reshaping rolls;

FIG. 7 is an elevation view of one carriage of the following stand of rolls taken on line 77 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 8 is top plan view of a detail showing the upper rolls of the leading stand of reshaping rolls in operative relation to a strip of material shown in dotted lines;

FIG. 9 is a sectional view on line 9'9 of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a sectional view to an enlarged scale of one end of a strip conductor prior to entering the reshaping rolls;

FIG. 11 is a view similar to FIG. 10 and showing the reshaping following passage through a leading stand of rolls; and

FIG. 12 is a View similar to FIG. 10 and showing the reshaping following passage through a following stand of rolls;

FIG. 13 is a sectional view to an enlarged scale of one end of a strip conductor following passage through four stands of suitably shaped rolls.

In carrying out our invention, we provide a method and apparatus for continuously moving a strip of material under tension between and in edge-wise contact with one or more stands of tapered reshaping rolls. These rolls are disposed with their axes at an obtuse angle with respect to the direction of movement of the strip, as measured from those axes to the axis of the approaching strip, so that the innermost line of contact between the edge of the strip and the rolls progressively moves to a larger diameter of the rolls during the rolling operation. Simultaneously, material being displaced by the rolling action is guided laterally of the strip in order to form a' widened strip. Resilient means are provided, moreover, to hold the rolls in contact with the strip and to insure a uniform rolling action.

Considering now the invention in its employment in 1 the manufacture of strip conductors, reference is first made to FIG. 1. A coiled supply 10 of aluminum strip having slitted edges and with a width of much greater dimension than its thickness, is suitably mounted at one end of the apparatus. As an example, when manufacturing aluminum strip conductors, the width of the strip may be four inches, while the thickness may be 0.080 inch. The invention can be used on heavier foil gauges as well as strip gauges and can treat the edges of materials other than aluminum, such as copper or hot-sheet 'tapered reshaping rolls.

steel. The term strip as used herein includes all suitable gauges including the foil gauges.

The coiled strip is led as a web 11 between guiding rolls 12 which may have a resilient surface and thence through the edge reshaping station indicated generally at 13 and employing one or more stands of reshaping rolls, here shown as a leading stand 14 and a following stand 15.

Upon being reshaped, the web may be led through an optional treatment step for dislodging any adhering slivers of material, as, for example, through a light contact with a vertically mounted revolving brush shown diagrammatically at 16. The web passes over guiding rolls 17 and through a conventional anodizing bath 18, through a Suitable sealing treatment (not shown), thence over guiding rolls 19 and is wound upon rotating spool 20 driven by any suitable means 21 and serving to place the entire web of the strip under tension throughout its rolling treatment.

The reshaping station is shown in greater detail in FIGS. 2 and 3 and in one satisfactory form comprises a stationary mounting plate 22 having legs adapted to rest upon a suitable surface 23 in fixed relation thereto as by means of bolts 24. At the side of the station nearer the guiding rolls 12, the first or leading stand 14 of reshaping rolls is mounted. The mounting therefor may comprise end pedestals 25 and 26 bolted to plate 22 and supporting two spaced guide rods 27 and 28, which are mounted in a horizontal plane well above the plane of plate 22.

Journalled upon guide rods 27 and 28 is a pair of carriages 29 and 30 for positioning the edge-reshaping rolls with respect to the strip under treatment. As noted in FIG. 4, each carriage is provided with friction-reducing means such as a ball bearing having races 31 and 32 encircling the rods. Centrally located in each carriage is an aperture adapted to receive, with a loose fit, a suitable floating carriage connecting rod 33 threaded at its outer ends 34 and 35. Adjustable nuts 36 and 37 on the threaded rod bearing against compression springs 38 and 39 are provided, the other ends of these springs being seated against the surfaces of carriages 29 and 30. The compression exerted by the springs is adjusted to any suitable value, depending upon the strip material being processed, and upon the slope of the For example, in treating aluminum strip, the spring action is such that the carriages may be readily moved apart by hand, as when the web 11 is first to be inserted in place within the apparatus.

Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4, the underside of each of the carriages 29 and 30 is provided with brackets 40 and 41, respectively. The brackets are rigidly fixed to the carriages and serve to mount rigidly the elongated rectangular shaped lower roll housings 42 and 43. These lower roll housings may be fastened to the brackets by means of bolts 44 and 45, respectively, and lie with their axes at an acute angle with respect to the direction of movement of the strip. Moreover, the bottom surfaces of each lower housing 42 and 43 preferably lie in supported contact with the surface of plate 22 which preferably is lubricated. As best seen in the enlarged view of FIG. 5, We provide lower, tapered edgereshaping rolls 46 and 47 mounted at their rear ends by means of adjustable nuts 48 and 49 in the respec tive lower rol-l housings 42 and 43. These rolls are journallml for rotation within the housings by any suitable bearing means such as bronze bushings or needle bearings and are mounted axially in a plane normal to. the axis of the housings and therefore at an obtuse angle with respect to the direction of movement of the strip. The axis of the rolls 46 and 47 preferably lie in the same horizontal plane and the rolls are of the same size. The particular obtuse angle formed between the roll axis and the axis of the moving strip may vary, depending upon various factors, but we have found in general that an angle of about 105 is satisfactory.

As a significant feature of the invention, the rolls are provided with rounded noses merging into truncated conical surfaces which, in turn, merge into cylindrical surfaces adjacent the rear of the rolls. The slope of the truncated conical portion of the roll forms any suitable acute angle with respect to the roll axis, an angle of about 22 for stand 14 and 45 for stand 15 being satisfactory in the manufacture of a conventional strip conductor employing step-wise reshaping.

Rigidly secured in each of the housings 42 and 43 adjacent the bearings for rolls 46 and 47 are threaded studs 50 and 51 extending upwardly therefrom. These studs project through apertures provided in a pair of upper roll housings 52 and 53, which preferably are of equal size with the coacting lower roll housings. The upper roll housings may extend under the guide rod 28 closely adjacent the same and are adjustably ailixed to the threaded studs by means of nuts 54 and 55, and as an important feature, have a rearmost corner 62 and 63, respectively, to loose contact with the side of housings 29 and 30.

As seen in FIG. 5, a pair of upper tapered edgereshaping rolls 56 and 57, similar to the lower rolls 46 and 47, are mounted at their rear ends by means of adjustable nuts 58 and 59 in the upper roll housings 52 and 53. These rolls are journalled for rotation within the housings similar to the mounting of the lower rolls and are of equal size and shape with their coacting lower rol s.

Referring inow to FIG. 9, rolls 56 and 46 are illustrated showing that the cylindrical surfaces of the rolls may be in rolling contact with each other during the rolling operation. With suitable adjustment of the roll housings 52 and 42 being effected by the adjustment of nut 54 upon stud 50 (FIG. 5) the rolls may be adjusted apart to any suitable degree. Bearing bushings for the respective rolls, such as indicated at 60 and 61, provide for relatively free rotation of the rolls While nuts 48 and 58 restrain the rolls against axial shifting.

Having thus described the leading stand of edge-shaping rolls, reference now is made to FIGS. 2 and 6 showing a following stand of rolls, as indicated generally at 15. It will be understood that, in its broader aspect, our invention comprehends the reshaping of only one edge of a moving strip with a single stand of rolls, or the reshaping of both edges with a single stand of rolls. However, in applying the invention to the manufacture of thin aluminum strip conductors, we prefer to reshape the edges by successive steps. In this application We provide a second mounting plate 122 disposed a short distance from plate 22 and having legs adapted to rest upon the same surface 23 and to be rigidly afiixed thereto by bolts 124. The mounting for the following stand of reshaping rolls may comprise end pedestals 125' and 126 bolted to plate 122 and supporting two spaced guide rods 127 and 128, which are mounted in a horizontal plane well above the plane of plate 122.

Journalled upon guide rods 127 and 128 is a pair of carriages 129 and 130 for positioning the following stand of edge-reshaping rolls with respect to the strip under treatment. As seen in FIG. 7, each carriage is provided with friction-reducing means such as a ball bearing having races 131 and 132 encircling the guide rods. Centrally located in each carriage is an aperture adapted to receive with a loose fit, a suitable floating carriage connecting rod 133 threaded at its outer ends 134 and 135. Adjustable nuts 136 and 137 bearing against compression springs 138 and 139 are provided, the other ends of these springs being seated against the surfaces of carriages 129 and 130. The compression exerted by the springs 138 and 139 is normally greater than the compression exerted by springs 38 and 39, for a reason later to be described.

Considering now FIGS. 6 and 7, the underside of each of the carriages 129 and 130 is provided with brackets 140 and 141, respectively. These brackets are rigidly fixed to the carriages and serve to mount rigidly the elongated rectangular shaped lower roll housings 142 and 143. These lower roll housings may be fastened to the brackets as by means of bolts 144 and 145, respectively, and lie with their axis at about the same acute angle with respect to the movement of the strip as do the lower roll housings of the leading stand of rolls. Moreover, the bottom surfaces of each lower housing 142 and 143 preferably lie in supported contact with the surface of plate 122 which preferably is lubricated.

As best seen in FIG. 6, we provide lower tapered edgereshaping rolls 146 and 147 mounted at their rear ends in the respective housings 142 and 143 by means of adjustable nuts 148 and 149. As in the case of lower rolls 46 and 47 of the leading stand, these rolls 146 and 147 are journalled for rotation by any suitable bearing means disposed in the housings and are mounted axially in a plane normal to the axis of those housings and therefore at about the same obtuse angle with respect to the direction of movement of the strip as the obtuse angle of the lower rolls of the leading stand. The axis of the rolls 146 and 147 preferably lie in the same plane with each other and with that of the lower rolls 46 and 47, previously described. Moreover, rolls 146 and 147 are of the same size and shape with each other and with rolls 46 and 47, except for the distinction now to be shown.

As in the case of rolls 46 and 47, the rolls 146 and 147 are provided with rounded noses merging into truncated conical surfaces which, in turn, merge into cylindrical surfaces adjacent the rear of the roll. As a distinct feature, however, rolls 146 and 147 have a slope of their truncated conical surface which forms an acute angle with respect to the roll axis which is greater than the corresponding angle found on rolls 46, 47, 56, 57 of the leading stand. Preferably, the slope of rolls 146 and 147 is about 45, in contrast with the slope of about 22 for the earlier-mentioned rolls. Thus, while the metal being displaced against rolls 1% and 147 abuts against a steeper angle and thus exerts a heavier push against the attached carriage it necessarily requires a heavier spring pressure for springs 138 and 139 than is found in the corresponding springs 33 and 39 of the first stand of rolls.

Rigidly secured in each of the housings 142 and 143 adjacent the bearings for rolls 146 and 147 are threaded studs 150 and 151 extending upwardly therefrom. These studs project through apertures provided in a pair of upper roll housings 152 and 153 which preferably are of the same size as the coacting lower roll housings and as the housings 42, 43, 52, 53 of the leading stand of rolls. The upper roll housings 152 and .153 may extend under the guide rod 128 with a close lit and are adjustably afiixed to the threaded studs by means of nuts 154 and 155 and as an important feature have a rearmost corner 162 and 163, respectively, in loose contact with the side of housings 129 and 150. As seen in FIG. 6, a pair of upper, tapered edge-reshaping rolls 156 and 157, similar to the lower rolls 146 and 147 are mounted at their rear ends by means of adjustable nuts 158 and 159 in the upper roll housings 152 and 153. These rolls are journalled for rotation in the housings similar to the mounting of the corresponding lower rolls.

With the foregoing description of our improved apparatus in mind, the preferred method of our invention may be practiced as follows: Assuming that the strip 11, shown in dotted lines in FIGS. 2 and 8, and in section in FIG. 10, is to be reshaped to have a form generally shown in FIG. 12 for the purpose of anodically insulating the same, the following steps of the method are carried out. At the start, the flat strip may have an irregular edge lying generally in reference plane AA as an indication of the width of the strip. With the upper reshaping rolls of each stand retracted from contact with the lower rolls thereof, the strip is fed as a web 11 between the respective rolls, through the anodizing apparatus, and attached to spool 26. Upon slowly rotating spool 20, the web begins its travel and the operator tightens to a desired amount the adjustable nuts 54 and 55 of the leading stand of rolls and then the adjustable nuts 154 and of the following stand of rolls, after which the spool may be rotated at normal speed. Upon being so tightened the edge of strip 11 is held in contact with tapered surfaces of those rolls. As will soon be apparent, no inwardly directed upsetting of metal occurs in the strip and the central portion of the moving strip does not require special supporting means.

As seen in FIGS. 2 and 8, the approaching edge of the strip in plane A-A meets the tapered portion of rolls 46 and 56, at an angle of incidence which places that edge in contact with the rolls near the nose portion of the rolls and the departing edge of the strip, represented at C-C of FIG. 11, leaves the rolls at an outer line of contact near the cylindrical portions of the rolls. However, during its passage between the rolls, and due to the cant of these rolls, the inner line of contact between the strip and rolls progressively has moved to the left of the plane AA in FIG. 11 and in the direction of the center line of the moving strip, finally reaching the line represented by plane B-B. Expressed in another manner, the outer edge of the strip has moved from a line of contact at a smaller diameter of the reshaping rolls to a line of contact at a larger diameter of those rolls.

Due to the interaction of the rolls, the metal being compressed in the strip thus flows laterally of the strip toward the apex of the open triangular space between the rolls (see FIG. 9) with the result that the displaced metal extends to plane CC (FIG. 11) and the strip is widened to the extent of the difference between planes AA and CC. This widening is shown to an exaggerated degree in FIG. 8. During this fiow, a torque is established upon the roll housings 42 and 52 and which pushes laterally against carriage 30. This torque is transmitted by the lower roll housing 42 aflixed to bracket 40 and by the upper roll housing 52 whose rearward corner 63 bears directly against the side of carriage 30. Due to spring 38, however, this torque is automatically resisted so as to hold the canted rolls in predetermined contact with the strip. The resistance to the torque by the spring 38, thus acts in opposition to the flow of metal induced by the rolls and opposes the widening of the strip in a regulated manner so that displaced metal is held firmly against the tapered surfaces of those rolls and cannot extrude in the form of a thin metal flash. Meanwhile, a similar mirror-image action is occurring at the other edge of the strip as it moves through the space between coacting rolls 43 and 53 of the leading stand. As is known, the unwinding of coil 10 may, for various reasons, impose a yawing action on the web and should this occur, the backing springs 38 and 39 on the same carriage connecting rod 33 automatically accommodate the position of the several rolls to this condition without interferring with their normal rolling action.

Upon leaving the leading stand 14 of rolls, the web is immediately brought into contact with the following stand 15. Here it undergoes a rolling action similar to that above described, except that the edge may now be tapered to a greater extent. Again considering the edge shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, upon entering stand 15, the edge of the strip at plane CC contacts rolls 146 and 155 which rolls, due to their cant, progressively move the inner line of contact to a plane between CC and BB until the strip takes a shape as shown in FIG. 12. At the same time, displaced metal flows into the space between the rolls and widens the strip to the extent shown at plane D-D. A similar action occurs during passage of the other edge of the strip between the companion rolls 147 and 157.

Upon leaving either or both of the stands 14 and 15, the edges of the strip conductor have been reshaped to an extent suitable for improved treatment, in the anodic insulating bath 13. This reshaping has formed a smooth rolled surface over the major portion of the originally irregular edges and thus made the edges susceptible to a uniform deposition of insulating coating thereon. The improved strip conductor produced by our invention has, as best seen in FIG. 12, four smooth tapered surfaces 64 and 65 which, at their other ends, merge in smooth curves 67 and 68 with the respective top and bottom fiat surfaces of the conductor. The smoothness of these curves appears to be due to the stretching of the outer fibres of the material by the surfaces of the canted rolls which are constantly tending to pull more of the material inwardly of the space between such rolls, as shown in FIG. 9. The rounding of the edge may be further improved upon by passing through a greater number of different shaped rolls. For example, the edge shown in FIG. 13 was passed through four roll stands. Also the rollers may be designed with a concave face so as to make the rounding of the edge even smoother. In any event, the smoothness of these curves is conducive to a uniform deposition of an insulating coating in bath 18. Even though the ideal rounded edge set forth in FIGS. 12 and 13 is not always achieved in practice, an edge approaching the ideal is achieved and is satisfactory for the purposes desired. After being anodically treated, the Web 11 is then wound on spool 2 from which it is later removed for transfer to a suitable apparatus in which it may, for example, be formed into electrical coils.

it is found that occasionally in the rolling of certain types of aturninum strip by our method, small detached slivers of material, as indicated by dotted lines 1% and 101 in FIG. 12 may adhere to the rolled edges. Such slivers usually drop off the travelling web before reaching guide rolls 17, but if desired, a brush 16 or other means may be provided to remove such slivers.

It will be understood that many variations of the edge rolling or reshaping method above-described, may be employed by these skilled in the art. For example, when only one edge of the strip material requires reshaping, the opposite edge may be confined in a conventional grooved roll acting as a guide therefor while its companion edge is passing between the tapered and canted pair of rolls resiliently backed by one of the roll carriages. f desired, one edge of a strip may, within limits, receive an edge treatment having a different slope than the edge treatment simultaneously being received by its companion edge by suitable reconstruction of the mounting arrangement for the springs backing up the roll carriages. If desired, the reshaping rolls themselves may be driven, rather than serving as idler rolls, although this modification will be found to be more expensive. The particular roll arrangement, in carrying out our method, therefore, will be found to be largely a matter of choice depending upon the nature of the material under treatment and the particular final edge shape desired.

In accordance with the patent statutes, we have disclosed what, at present, are considered to be the preferred embodiments of our invention, but it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention and we, therefore, aim to cover, in the appended claims, all such equivalent variations and modifications.

What we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. Apparatus for reshaping the edge of a strip of material comprising a pair of tapered reshaping rolls, means for mounting said rolls adjacent the edge of said strip with the axes of said rolls at an obtuse angle with respect to the direction of movement of said strip as measured from the axes of said rolls to the axis of the approaching strip, means for positioning the upper and lower corners of the edge of said strip in contact with and between the tapered surface of said rolls, means for resiliently resisting the torque produced by said rolls while in rolling contact with said strip, and means for moving the strip endwise under tension between said rolls.

' 2. Apparatus for reshaping the edge of a strip of material comprising a pair of tapered reshaping rolls, means for mounting said rolls adjacent the edge of said strip with the axes of said rolls at an obtuse angle with respect to the direction of movement of said strip as measured from the axes of said rolls to the axis of the approaching strip, means for selectively adjusting one of said rolls into and out of rolling contact with the other of said rolls, means for positioning the upper .and lower corners of the edge of said strip in contact with and between the tapered surface of said rolls, means for resiliently resisting the torque produced by said rolls while in rolling contact with said strip, and means for moving the strip endwise under tension between said rolls.

3. Apparatus for reshaping the edge of a strip of material comprising a pair of tapered reshaping rolls, means for mounting said rolls adjacent the edge of said strip with the axes of said rolls parallel to the plane of said strip and at an obtuse angle with respect to the direction of movement of said strip as measured from the axes of said rolls to the axis of the approaching strip, means for positioning the upper and lower corners of the edge of said strip in contact with and between the tapered surface of said rolls, means for resiliently resisting the torque produced by said rolls while in rolling contact with said strip, and means for moving the strip endwise under tension between said rolls.

4. Apparatus for stepwise reshaping of the edge of a strip of material comprising a first pair of tapered reshaping rolls, a second pair of tapered reshaping rolls spaced from said first pair, separate means mounting each of said pairs of rolls adjacent the edge of said strip with the axes of each of said pairs of rolls at an obtuse angle with respect to the direction of movement ofsaid strip as measured from the axes of said rolls to the axis of the approaching strip, separate means for positioning the upper and lower corners of the edge of said strip in contact with and between the tapered surfaces of said first and of said second pairs of rolls, means for resiliently resisting the torque produced by said rolls While in rolling contact with said strip, and means for moving the strip endwise under tension between said respective pairs of rolls.

5. Apparatus for stepwise reshaping of the edge of a strip of material comprising a first pair of tapered rcshaping rolls, a second pair of tapered reshaping rolls spaced from said first pair, separate carriage means mounting each of said pairs of rolls adjacent the edge of said strip with the axes of each of said pairs of rolls at an obtuse angle with respect to the direction of movement of said strip as measured from the axes of said rolls to the axis of the approaching strip, means for mounting said carriages for movement transversely of said strip, separate means for positioning the upper and lower corners of the edge of said strip in contact with and between the tapered surfaces of said first and of said second pairs of rolls, means for resiliently resisting the torque produced by said rolls while in rolling contact with said strip, and means for moving the strip endwise under tension between said respective pairs of rolls.

6. Apparatus for stepwise reshaping of the edge of a strip of material comprising a first pair of tapered reshaping rolls, a second pair of tapered reshaping rolls spaced from said first pair, separate carriage means mounting each of said pairs of rolls adjacent the edge of said strip with the axes of each of said pairs of rolls at an obtuse angle with respect to the direction of movement of said strip as measured from the axes of said rolls to the axis of the approaching strip, means for mounting said carriages for movement transversely of said strip, said means comprising stationary rods extending through said carriages in which said carriages are resiliently connected by a floating rod extending loosely therethrough and having adjustable abutments adjacent the ends thereof, compression spring means for each of said carriages bearing at one end upon the corresponding carriage and at the other end upon the corresponding abutment, separate means for positioning the upper and lower corners of the edge of said strip in contact with and between the tapered surfaces of said first and of said second pairs of rolls, and means for moving the strip endwise under tension between said respective pairs of rolls.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Briggs Aug. 17, Paige June 2, Wadsworth Jan. 21, Clark Oct. 16, Sheperdson May 15, Fell Jan. 8, Steckel Jan. 14, Lawson Dec. 30, Yoder Nov. 7, 

